Amazon stops sales of some hoverboards due to safety issues

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 15, 2015, 17:11 Updated : December 15, 2015, 17:11

Swagway's hoverboard [Courtesy of Swagway]



Hoverboards, which are a self-balancing unicycle, had been the hottest trend in 2015. But Amazon, the world’s leading online shopping platform, banned sales of some hoverboards due to safety issues.

Following the boom of leading hoverboard maker Swagway, there had been fakes and counterfeit models sold on Amazon. There were few events recently which some illegitimate models caught fire and lead to destroying private properties such as houses, and cars.

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is in investigations of the matter, also, some major airlines had declared that they will ban the boards from flights.

To prevent further accidents involving the hoverboards, Amazon was in quick response. “Amazon just sent out a notice to all "hoverboard" sellers to "provide documentation demonstrating that all hoverboards you list are compliant with applicable safety standards, including UN 38.3 (battery), UL 1642 (battery), and UL 60950-1 (charger).” The Verge reported quoting a statement from the spokesperson of Swagway.

The spokesperson also stated that “Swagway already meets all those certifications and is happy that Amazon has decided to take steps to weed out the low-quality boards. As safety is always on the forefront for Swagway, we're glad that this is taking place, especially in light of recent concerns with the fires with the poor quality batteries.”

Since the most of the problems are related to batteries, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission warns hoverboard users not to charge the board overnight. The commission also pointed out that the user should be awake and watching the charging process.

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